Dallas Cowboys tight end Rivaldo Fairweather carries the ball at training camp at the River Ridge Fields in Oxnard Kirby Lee-Imagn Images.

UDFA Cowboys tight end fighting for roster spot is a former punter

Originally posted on Dallas Cowboys on SI
By Josh Sanchez | Last updated Jul 31, 2025 1:00 PM ET

Making it in the NFL is never easy. Making it in the NFL as an undrafted free agent is even more difficult, but for Dallas Cowboys tight end Rivaldo Fairweather, it's been a wild journey.

The Cowboys Wire dropped an interesting nugget this week with an attention-grabbing headline, "Former punter looking to carve out role on Cowboys as UDFA tight end."

At first, one would think, "there is absolutely no way." But, as it turns out, Fairweather was recruited by his high school football coach during his junior year. Fairweather joined the team as a punter, and apparently exceled.

"He was a hell of a punter," his coach at Boyd H. Anderson High School in Lauderdale Lakes, Florida, Darion Gray, told the Montgomery Advertiser. "He averaged maybe like 45 yards a punt."

His senior year of high school, Fairweather was moved to tight end so the team could take advantage of his physical tools. That was the first time he had ever played the position. During his final year in high school, the 6-foot-3, 242-pound Fairweather hauled in 40 catches for 812 yards and 15 touchdowns.

Fairweather then committed to FIU as a three-star recruit before transferring to the SEC to play for the Auburn Tigers after three years.

While he saw limited action in college, he's now trying to make it in the NFL on his raw potential alone as an undrafted free agent at a position where there is a surprising amount of depth.

Dallas has Jake Ferguson, who just signed a four-year extension with the team, former second-round pick Luke Schoonmaker; undrafted free agent Brevyn Spann-Ford, who has been making waves, John Stephens Jr., who is coming off a second torn ACL, and Princeton Fant.

Fairweather has the opportunity to make the roster if the Cowboys decide to keep four tight ends, but he will also be a practice squad candidate if the coaching staff likes what they see. Regardless of how things go, Fairweather's unconventional path to the pros makes him an easy guy to root for.

And it's a good thing he isn't competing to make the roster as a punter, because Bryan Anger would be tough to beat out.

This article first appeared on Dallas Cowboys on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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